Have you ever had to do something that seemed totally pointless?

Have you ever been in a situation that you knew would bear absolutely no relevance to anything in life?

Have you ever left a room or place feeling totally stumped as to why you were required to do something so completely inane?

Well, that’s how I felt a few months ago when I took the GRE.

For those of you who don’t know, the GRE, or Graduate Record Examinations, is a standardized test you have to take in order to apply to most graduate schools.

It’s kind of like the SAT or ACT, only worse.

There are three sections, verbal, analytical and quantitative. All three sections are timed and your final score is a combination of the scores on each section.

I have been planning on enrolling in FAU‘s graduate program with the Department of Communication in the fall. To enter, you need a combined score of 1000 on two of the three sections, either verbal and analytical, or verbal and quantitative.

So, I reluctantly dished out $105 that I really didn’t have and drove 30 miles to take the test.

Boy, was I discouraged.

The first section I worked on was the analytical. I’ll preface this by saying that I think I’m pretty damn smart, and I wasn’t the slightest bit worried about how I would do.

Well, I didn’t even have time to finish it. Actually, I think I stared at the first question with my mouth open.

I’m talking about questions like, “There are five people in the room. If Jane isn’t sitting next to Tom, and Tom isn’t sitting with Claire, but Louis can’t be sitting with any girls and Amy isn’t sitting with Jane, then who is Tom sitting with?”

Now this may sound like something you’d see in an IQ test, if you’ve ever seen one. But I worked for the Neuroscience Department at the University of Florida my first year of college. My job was to evaluate IQ tests.

Believe me, the questions on an IQ test are not as elaborate as this.

I was really frustrated. I couldn’t believe something could leave me so stumped.

Would somebody tell me what I’m ever going to use this for?

The next section I worked on was the quantitative. Now, I’ve never been a math person. Hence the communication major.

But let’s face the facts . . . I haven’t taken a math class in over three years! If there was any section I was worried about, it had to be this one.

Luckily, the questions weren’t that hard and I felt okay after. But again, I’m planning on getting my master’s degree in film and media studies, would somebody tell me what I’m going to use this for?

The last section was the verbal. This section also proved to be okay, and I could almost see a small relevance in it. But let’s not go too far here.

So I get a rough score when I’m done, and amazingly (or maybe not) I didn’t meet the minimum score.

What am I supposed to do now?

I certainly can’t afford to shell out another $105, especially when I didn’t see the point in the first place.

And there’s always the possibility that I won’t meet the minimum score the second time around. This could prove to be an even bigger waste, in addition to a serious blemish on my ego.

Do I really want to go to a school that weighs part of my admission on a standardized test, when my classes will prove to have nothing to do with the subjects?

The truth is, there are graduate schools that don’t rely on the GRE for admission requirements. For good reason, I’m sure. And some of those schools have a better reputation than FAU.

Sure, you can’t beat the convenience of FAU. Unless, of course, you want to take some summer classes this year or you’re a freshman trying to register for new classes.

The bottom line is that a standardized test can, in no way, measure a person’s ability to do good work. And the GRE doesn’t measure anything that has to do with going to graduate school.

I’m smart. I’ll graduate in the top 10% of my class and with honors. If FAU doesn’t want me because of my GRE scores, I’ll find somebody who does.